Black Hard Stuff On Nose

[Hamesan]

So my cat has this black thing on her nose that just appeared. It's black hard coming out of the skin and impossible to remove. I thought it was dirt and tried to remove it but it just made ot worse. Can someone help me identify what it is or if i can apply something?

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi - thanks for coming here! She looks like a total sweetie!
I'm not a vet and don't want to suggest anything, --do you have a way to get your cat to a vet?

 

[blueyedgirl5946]

I agree. Whatever it is, it doesn't look good. It will set your mind at ease to let he vet take a look.

 

[bananamillie]

So my cat has this black thing on her nose that just appeared. It's black hard coming out of the skin and impossible to remove. I thought it was dirt and tried to remove it but it just made ot worse. Can someone help me identify what it is or if i can apply something? View attachment 218929

Hi!
Did you find out what this was? dealing with a similar nose issue with my cat and would like to know what could be causing it.
We do have a vet appointment in a couple of days.

 

[chipmunk-kim]

My cat Zephyrus had something similar. A scab formed and falls off endlessly. It got bigger as time went on. We got it biopsied and it was squamous cell carcinoma. A punch biopsy may remove it entirely and indicate the cause. Early removal is crucial, before it gets too deep. I highly recommend getting the lesion biopsied as soon as possible.

It could definitely be other things too, such as a fungal or viral lesion.

 

[bananamillie]

Thank you for sharing! Is the scab that you're referring to in the photo the small one on the right? How long did you notice it's appearance before getting it biopsied and then removed?

Our fear is that it is SCC. We took our cat to the vet and by this time the scab had fallen off.
She said she's less concerned about it being SCC looking at her in person than what she'd seen in the photos, but isn't able to say what caused it.
We're watching to see if the skin under heals or continues to scab over. We will proceed with a biopsy if it reoccurs, but the biopsy in this case would be a "wedge cut" as it's on the tip of her nose, which is a more complicated biopsy procedure. Our cat is older with heart problems and doesn't handle anesthesia very well, so we will have to proceed with caution. Right now we are waiting for a cardiologist appointment (3 weeks out) to sign off on her being sedated for the biopsy.

 

[chipmunk-kim]

Thank you for sharing! Is the scab that you're referring to in the photo the small one on the right? How long did you notice it's appearance before getting it biopsied and then removed?

Our fear is that it is SCC. We took our cat to the vet and by this time the scab had fallen off.
She said she's less concerned about it being SCC looking at her in person than what she'd seen in the photos, but isn't able to say what caused it.
We're watching to see if the skin under heals or continues to scab over. We will proceed with a biopsy if it reoccurs, but the biopsy in this case would be a "wedge cut" as it's on the tip of her nose, which is a more complicated biopsy procedure. Our cat is older with heart problems and doesn't handle anesthesia very well, so we will have to proceed with caution. Right now we are waiting for a cardiologist appointment (3 weeks out) to sign off on her being sedated for the biopsy.


View attachment 348453

Yes it’s just to the right of his nose. On his left side. It was there for quite a while before I realized it wasn’t just pigmentation unfortunately. He hates his face being touched. Several years most likely, and when I noticed it was getting bigger I was concerned.

It’s now too deep to fully remove easily (and affordably), the margins were clear but it extended deeper than the biopsy could reach. So far it hasn’t affected him systemically, but he has FIV so that could have slowed it’s metastasis progress.

If it’s not recurring I would worry a lot less. It could be fungal. Did the doc do a dermatology culture?

 

[bananamillie]

Yes it’s just to the right of his nose. On his left side. It was there for quite a while before I realized it wasn’t just pigmentation unfortunately. He hates his face being touched. Several years most likely, and when I noticed it was getting bigger I was concerned.

It’s now too deep to fully remove easily (and affordably), the margins were clear but it extended deeper than the biopsy could reach. So far it hasn’t affected him systemically, but he has FIV so that could have slowed it’s metastasis progress.

If it’s not recurring I would worry a lot less. It could be fungal. Did the doc do a dermatology culture?

The doc did not do any kind of test, which is surprising to me because usually she is overly cautious and recommends a bunch of tests for seemingly minor issues. That makes me think that either she is quite certain it's nothing to be too concerned about, or just had an off day.
Another vet (at the same clinic) also suggested waiting it out for 2-3 weeks to see if it clears up, while we're waiting on the cardio appointment, rather than putting kitty through a biopsy at this time. She didn't recommend any additional tests either.

For now we've been using medicated wipes and diluted apple cider vinegar, which seems to remove the crusting. We might have to give it some time to see if it's healing or recurring.

Thank you for sharing your experience! I'm glad that so far the SCC has not affected him systemically

 

[fionasmom]

Hamesan definitely follow through with the appointment as it looks to me like SCC, but as was suggested (and hopefully) you will find out that it is something less serious.

B bananamillie the waiting and observing seems reasonable. I can see your vet's point that if there is nothing there except a newly clean spot of skin, the attempt to biopsy might just be a waste of your money and stress for your kitty. When I had SCC on my scalp, it did come off initially, or at least something did (since it was hard to see in that location) and I thought I "cured" it, but it did come back. Hopefully this was just some strange fungus that might never return to your cat.

 

[bananamillie]

fionasmom Thanks!
At this point most of the crusting / scabbing is gone, but it's still recurring in a small portion of the nose.
Fingers crossed that it heals over the next two weeks with topical remedies.

Here's what it looks like right now, with the spot freshly medica